Targum Onkelos

Targum Onkelos
Public domain · source
Name	Targum Onkelos
Language	Jewish Babylonian Aramaic
Date	Late Antiquity
Genre	Targum (Aramaic translation of Hebrew Bible)
Subject	Torah

Targum Onkelos.

Targum Onkelos is the classical Aramaic translation of the Torah traditionally used in Rabbinic Judaism and codified in the medieval halakhic works of the Babylonian Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch. Its text functions as both a literalizing translation and an interpretive witness to Second Temple Judaism, reflecting exegetical choices comparable to those found in the Targum corpus, the Talmud Yerushalmi, and the Midrash literature. The work's authority shaped liturgical practice in the communities of Babylonia, Ashkenaz, and Sepharad and influenced medieval grammarians, masoretes, and biblical commentators such as Rashi, Maimonides, and Rabbi Joseph Kara.

Introduction

Targum Onkelos is a primary representative of the formal Western Aramaic targumim that render the Hebrew Pentateuch into Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and is often juxtaposed with the more expansive interpretive traditions exemplified by Targum Jonathan and the Palestinian targumim preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls and cited in Jerusalem Talmud sources. It occupies a central place in Jewish liturgy where its recitation and study are mandated by halakhic authorities found in the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides and the codes of Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch; its readings shaped communal Torah study across the Jewish diaspora from Syria and Iraq to Spain and Germany.

Authorship and Dating

Traditional Jewish attribution links the composition to a figure identified in Talmudic passages as a convert and Roman noble associated with Onkelos; modern scholarship debates that attribution and situates the work within the milieu of late antique Babylonia and Palestine. Philological and comparative studies align its linguistic features with Jewish Babylonian Aramaic attested in the Babylonian Talmud and in epigraphic materials from Nippur and Sura, suggesting a terminus ante quem in late antiquity, while thematic parallels with Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, and Midrash Rabbah inform debates about its dependency relations. Dating proposals range from the 1st to the 5th centuries CE, with proponents invoking evidence from the Geonic period, citations in the writings of Saadia Gaon, and references in the legal responsa of the Gaonim.

Language and Translation Techniques

Linguistically the text exhibits features of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic including morphophonemic forms, syntactic calques of Biblical Hebrew, and lexical borrowings parallel to those in the Babylonian Talmud, Mishnah, and Tosefta. Translation technique oscillates between formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence: often literal renderings of proper names and juridical phrasing coexist with idiomatic paraphrase when theological or theological-anthropomorphic passages occur, analogous to exegetical moves in Midrash Tanhuma and Pesikta. The work employs specialized terminology comparable to that of Samaritan and Masoretic traditions, and its treatment of the divine names reflects rabbinic preferences documented in the Talmud Bavli and the writings of Ramban and Rabbi Solomon ibn Gabirol.

Canonical Status and Usage in Jewish Liturgy

From the early medieval period the text assumed canonical status in rabbinic practice: the Babylonian Talmud and later halakhic codifiers such as Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Moses Isserles recommend recitation or at least familiarity with the targum during Torah service and private study. Communities following the rites of Ashkenaz, Sepharad, and Yemen display differing customs regarding public cantillation and the reading of Aramaic, a diversity discussed in responsa by figures like Rav Hai Gaon, Rabbi Gershom ben Judah, and Rabbi Jacob Emden. Liturgical use intersects with educational practice in the yeshiva curriculum and with the masoretic concern for vocalization and cantillation preserved by the Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali traditions.

Textual Tradition and Manuscripts

Manuscript witnesses derive from medieval and early modern codices preserved in collections associated with Cairo Geniza, the libraries of Constantinople, Venice, and Amsterdam, and the holdings of institutions like the Bodleian Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The textual tradition shows recensional variation comparable to that in the Masoretic Text and in the Samaritan Pentateuch, with notable medieval witnesses produced by scribes linked to the Geonic academies of Sura and Pumbedita and by later medieval centers such as Toledo and Prague. Comparative textual criticism employs collation with editions used by Saadia Gaon, Rashi, and early printed Targumim from the presses of Mantua and Venice.

Major Editions and Translations

Critical editions and translations emerged from the scholarship of the early modern period into the modern era, produced by editors and printers active in London, Paris, Berlin, and Jerusalem; notable editions reflect the philological methods of scholars in the traditions of Graetz and the Wissenschaft des Judentums. Modern annotated translations and critical apparatus appear in series published by academic presses in Oxford, Cambridge (UK), Leiden, and Brill, and are accompanied by commentaries that reference Saadia, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and modern scholars associated with universities such as Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Columbia University, and University of Oxford.

Influence and Reception

The targum's influence extends into medieval Bible exegesis, halakhic interpretation, and the development of Jewish communal practice, informing the exegetical choices of commentators like Rashi, Maimonides, and Nachmanides as well as later philologists such as Jacob ben Hayyim and Elijah Levita. Its reception history intersects with Christian scholarly interest during the Reformation and the rise of comparative Semitics in the works of scholars connected to Leipzig, Heidelberg, and University of Paris (Sorbonne), and with modern textual criticism in projects at institutions including the Jewish Theological Seminary and the National Library of Israel. The targum continues to be studied in contemporary programs at Bar-Ilan University, Yeshiva University, and in seminaries focusing on Rabbinic and Biblical studies.

Category:Aramaic translations of the Bible Category:Jewish texts